September 2023 Newsletter

Summer is officially over at Penny Lane Centers. To help prepare the children, youth, and families we support, we hosted several back to school drive thru-backpack drives this past August. We gave out hundreds of backpacks full of goodies and gifts from several of our community partners. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in these drives, Kaiser Permanente, the City of Lancaster, In-N-Out Burger, and all the wonderful volunteers who put a smile on so many faces. Check it out this month and see how you can be a part of these events in the future.

The Penny Lane TAY Drop in Center in Commerce is able to provide fresh produce, baked goods, prepared meals, meats, and much more to homeless and at-risk youth thanks to the donations received from community businesses like Trader Joes, Lazy Acres Natural Market, and McDonalds.  While the program purchases a great deal of food for clients, the COVID pandemic showed a need for youth to have food that can last them a week. We are working hard to help them learn the importance of healthy eating, cooking for themselves and so much more with our community partners help.  Check it out this month and learn how you can help some of our TAY youth.

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This month you get to meet Lorelei Darling. At age twelve, Lorelei began to notice a lack of support for older youth in foster care. She researched the struggles of teens in the system, such as “aging out” of foster care, and the unfortunate tie between foster care and homelessness. She changed her Toy Drive to an annual Teen Holiday Drive. Instead of toys, Lorelei collected gifts for teens and Transitional Age Youth such as clothing, books, school supplies, hygiene kits, gift cards, and more. Learn all about her journey this month, a must read!

We are excited to share that Rise Up: A Racial Justice Conference is fast approaching.  We want to encourage you to save the date and register to attend.  Join us on Wednesday, October 18th at the California Endowment Center as we talk about and collaborate on how we can take action to eradicate racial and social injustice.  This year the theme is Be the Domino.  To learn more about this year's conference or to register, click the link!

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A few weeks ago, the island of Maui, Hawaii, suffered from wildfires that left destruction, devastation and ruin in its path. The Lahaina wildfire was one of four blazes that broke out on Maui on Aug. 8th. The economic and cultural heart of the island was reduced to ashes in the deadliest US wildfire in more than 100 years. At least 114 people have died in the western Maui wildfires and more than 1,000 people remain missing as of the writing of this article. Read how you can help those in need this month.

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This month you get to meet Kevin Cummings. Kevin is a Program Manager for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) here at Penny Lane and he supervises the Case Managers at Metamorphosis on Foothill and Mid-Celis in San Fernando. He has been at Penny Lane for 21 years, starting off in the residential program. His parents were both African American and were born in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to having children, they moved to Cleveland, Ohio where his family was raised. He has 3 wonderful sisters and 3 awesome brothers. Learn all about Kevin, his family and more this month!

The end of Summer really was exciting here at Penny Lane. No, it wasn't the first tropical storm in 86 years to hit California, it was all the fun events we had this past month!  We hosted a celebration of Penny Lane Centers Mentored Internship Program (MIP) successes and continued provision of internship/practicum opportunities for graduate students from universities in Los Angeles County. In Commerce we hosted a Summer BBQ and had a visit with representatives from Congressman Robert Garcia's office. We also highlight our CalWORKs job workshop, check out all the photos of the past events this month!

In this month’s promotional employee spotlight, we are pleased to introduce you to Yojanne Blanco, Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS) Clinical Supervisor, working at our Lancaster location. Yojanne started at Penny Lane in May of 2011 as an FFA Social worker, she worked in ITFC as an In-Home Support Counselor, moved to the clinic as an Outpatient Therapist, which eventually lead to a promotion to MAT Assessor/OP Therapist in June 2021. Check it out to learn more about Yojanne this month!

Check all the open positions at Penny Lane Centers this month!